Gun Disappointments

[WinterBorn]

I thought this might make an interesting thread. If you have owned many guns, there are bound to be times you were disappointed in a particular gun.

My biggest disappointment was in a Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle I bought in 2006. My idea was to use it as a coyote rifle. It was a lot cheaper than other .223 Remington semi-auto rifles. And I am a big fan of Ruger firearms in general. But the Mini-14 I got was a disaster as far as accuracy was concerned. I mounted an older Redfield scope I had from when I replaced the optics on a deer rifle. The scope rings provided by Ruger seemed secure and fit like a glove. So off I went to the range with 3 different brands of ammo.

The gun would not sight in worth a damn. I assumed it was the scope or scope mounting, or my inability to hit at 100 yards. I went home and bore sighted the gun again. Then I took a small gun vise I had with me to the gun range. I clamped the rifle into the vise, and put a 6'x8' piece of cardboard up at 100 yards. I figured that way I could see exactly where it was hitting and adjust the scope accordingly. My first 5 shot group had a spread on 9 inches. 9 inches! WTF? I put an additional sandbag on the clamp and got the same thing.

I tried a few more times but never got it anywhere near decent accuracy. The rifle was fun to shoot, and I never had any feeding issues. But a rifle that isn't accurate isn't of any use to me.

 

[Mac-7]

I have read many reviews of the Mini-14 and you are the first to say it wont shoot

did you return to the dealer?

 

[Cellblock2429]

I thought this might make an interesting thread. If you have owned many guns, there are bound to be times you were disappointed in a particular gun.

My biggest disappointment was in a Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle I bought in 2006. My idea was to use it as a coyote rifle. It was a lot cheaper than other .223 Remington semi-auto rifles. And I am a big fan of Ruger firearms in general. But the Mini-14 I got was a disaster as far as accuracy was concerned. I mounted an older Redfield scope I had from when I replaced the optics on a deer rifle. The scope rings provided by Ruger seemed secure and fit like a glove. So off I went to the range with 3 different brands of ammo.

The gun would not sight in worth a damn. I assumed it was the scope or scope mounting, or my inability to hit at 100 yards. I went home and bore sighted the gun again. Then I took a small gun vise I had with me to the gun range. I clamped the rifle into the vise, and put a 6'x8' piece of cardboard up at 100 yards. I figured that way I could see exactly where it was hitting and adjust the scope accordingly. My first 5 shot group had a spread on 9 inches. 9 inches! WTF? I put an additional sandbag on the clamp and got the same thing.

I tried a few more times but never got it anywhere near decent accuracy. The rifle was fun to shoot, and I never had any feeding issues. But a rifle that isn't accurate isn't of any use to me.

/——/ Not bring a gun owner, I’m wondering if that Ruger was defective. Could the barrel be slightly bent? Just asking.

 

[WinterBorn]

I have read many reviews of the Mini-14 and you are the first to say it wont shoot

did you return to the dealer?

I've read quite a few that said the accuracy was not great. But nothing like the one I had.

I bought it in Florida. Before I had a chance to get back down (or bother with returning it to Ruger) a guy wanted to buy it. I kept telling him about the accuracy, but he swore he could fix it. Never did hear the result. I got what I paid for it.

 

[WinterBorn]

I thought this might make an interesting thread. If you have owned many guns, there are bound to be times you were disappointed in a particular gun.

My biggest disappointment was in a Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle I bought in 2006. My idea was to use it as a coyote rifle. It was a lot cheaper than other .223 Remington semi-auto rifles. And I am a big fan of Ruger firearms in general. But the Mini-14 I got was a disaster as far as accuracy was concerned. I mounted an older Redfield scope I had from when I replaced the optics on a deer rifle. The scope rings provided by Ruger seemed secure and fit like a glove. So off I went to the range with 3 different brands of ammo.

The gun would not sight in worth a damn. I assumed it was the scope or scope mounting, or my inability to hit at 100 yards. I went home and bore sighted the gun again. Then I took a small gun vise I had with me to the gun range. I clamped the rifle into the vise, and put a 6'x8' piece of cardboard up at 100 yards. I figured that way I could see exactly where it was hitting and adjust the scope accordingly. My first 5 shot group had a spread on 9 inches. 9 inches! WTF? I put an additional sandbag on the clamp and got the same thing.

I tried a few more times but never got it anywhere near decent accuracy. The rifle was fun to shoot, and I never had any feeding issues. But a rifle that isn't accurate isn't of any use to me.

/——/ Not bring a gun owner, I’m wondering if that Ruger was defective. Could the barrel be slightly bent? Just asking.

Not that I could tell. It was straight enough for a laser bore sight to shine through.

 

[Cellblock2429]

I thought this might make an interesting thread. If you have owned many guns, there are bound to be times you were disappointed in a particular gun.

My biggest disappointment was in a Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle I bought in 2006. My idea was to use it as a coyote rifle. It was a lot cheaper than other .223 Remington semi-auto rifles. And I am a big fan of Ruger firearms in general. But the Mini-14 I got was a disaster as far as accuracy was concerned. I mounted an older Redfield scope I had from when I replaced the optics on a deer rifle. The scope rings provided by Ruger seemed secure and fit like a glove. So off I went to the range with 3 different brands of ammo.

The gun would not sight in worth a damn. I assumed it was the scope or scope mounting, or my inability to hit at 100 yards. I went home and bore sighted the gun again. Then I took a small gun vise I had with me to the gun range. I clamped the rifle into the vise, and put a 6'x8' piece of cardboard up at 100 yards. I figured that way I could see exactly where it was hitting and adjust the scope accordingly. My first 5 shot group had a spread on 9 inches. 9 inches! WTF? I put an additional sandbag on the clamp and got the same thing.

I tried a few more times but never got it anywhere near decent accuracy. The rifle was fun to shoot, and I never had any feeding issues. But a rifle that isn't accurate isn't of any use to me.

/——/ Not bring a gun owner, I’m wondering if that Ruger was defective. Could the barrel be slightly bent? Just asking.

Not that I could tell. It was straight enough for a laser bore sight to shine through.

/——/ I’d contact Ruger and let them know. Who knows, they might take it back for an exchange or refund.

 

[Canon Shooter]

I used to have a Sig Auer 9mm (forget which model) that had an insanely long trigger pull. I bought it thinking I could adjust it, but I could get it nowhere close to what I wanted.

Aside from that it was a really nice gun, though...

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

Cant say I've ever bought a gun and been disappointed.
There was that Raven .25 I traded a half oz. of weed for when I was a youngster though.
Yikes!!! That thing was a piece of crap!!

 

[Tumblin Tumbleweed]

I thought this might make an interesting thread. If you have owned many guns, there are bound to be times you were disappointed in a particular gun.

My biggest disappointment was in a Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle I bought in 2006. My idea was to use it as a coyote rifle. It was a lot cheaper than other .223 Remington semi-auto rifles. And I am a big fan of Ruger firearms in general. But the Mini-14 I got was a disaster as far as accuracy was concerned. I mounted an older Redfield scope I had from when I replaced the optics on a deer rifle. The scope rings provided by Ruger seemed secure and fit like a glove. So off I went to the range with 3 different brands of ammo.

The gun would not sight in worth a damn. I assumed it was the scope or scope mounting, or my inability to hit at 100 yards. I went home and bore sighted the gun again. Then I took a small gun vise I had with me to the gun range. I clamped the rifle into the vise, and put a 6'x8' piece of cardboard up at 100 yards. I figured that way I could see exactly where it was hitting and adjust the scope accordingly. My first 5 shot group had a spread on 9 inches. 9 inches! WTF? I put an additional sandbag on the clamp and got the same thing.

I tried a few more times but never got it anywhere near decent accuracy. The rifle was fun to shoot, and I never had any feeding issues. But a rifle that isn't accurate isn't of any use to me.

I had a Hi Point .45 once. It was a cheap piece of junk. I have a Ruger now.

 

[WinterBorn]

I thought this might make an interesting thread. If you have owned many guns, there are bound to be times you were disappointed in a particular gun.

My biggest disappointment was in a Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle I bought in 2006. My idea was to use it as a coyote rifle. It was a lot cheaper than other .223 Remington semi-auto rifles. And I am a big fan of Ruger firearms in general. But the Mini-14 I got was a disaster as far as accuracy was concerned. I mounted an older Redfield scope I had from when I replaced the optics on a deer rifle. The scope rings provided by Ruger seemed secure and fit like a glove. So off I went to the range with 3 different brands of ammo.

The gun would not sight in worth a damn. I assumed it was the scope or scope mounting, or my inability to hit at 100 yards. I went home and bore sighted the gun again. Then I took a small gun vise I had with me to the gun range. I clamped the rifle into the vise, and put a 6'x8' piece of cardboard up at 100 yards. I figured that way I could see exactly where it was hitting and adjust the scope accordingly. My first 5 shot group had a spread on 9 inches. 9 inches! WTF? I put an additional sandbag on the clamp and got the same thing.

I tried a few more times but never got it anywhere near decent accuracy. The rifle was fun to shoot, and I never had any feeding issues. But a rifle that isn't accurate isn't of any use to me.

I had a Hi Point .45 once. It was a cheap piece of junk. I have a Ruger now.

That is what shocked me. I have owned Ruger singles action revolvers, double action revolvers, semi-auto pistols, bolt action rifles, semi-auto .22 rifles, and my absolute favorite hunting rifle is a Ruger No. 1. All have been solid, reliable and accurate guns.

 

[okfine]

I thought this might make an interesting thread. If you have owned many guns, there are bound to be times you were disappointed in a particular gun.

My biggest disappointment was in a Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle I bought in 2006. My idea was to use it as a coyote rifle. It was a lot cheaper than other .223 Remington semi-auto rifles. And I am a big fan of Ruger firearms in general. But the Mini-14 I got was a disaster as far as accuracy was concerned. I mounted an older Redfield scope I had from when I replaced the optics on a deer rifle. The scope rings provided by Ruger seemed secure and fit like a glove. So off I went to the range with 3 different brands of ammo.

The gun would not sight in worth a damn. I assumed it was the scope or scope mounting, or my inability to hit at 100 yards. I went home and bore sighted the gun again. Then I took a small gun vise I had with me to the gun range. I clamped the rifle into the vise, and put a 6'x8' piece of cardboard up at 100 yards. I figured that way I could see exactly where it was hitting and adjust the scope accordingly. My first 5 shot group had a spread on 9 inches. 9 inches! WTF? I put an additional sandbag on the clamp and got the same thing.

I tried a few more times but never got it anywhere near decent accuracy. The rifle was fun to shoot, and I never had any feeding issues. But a rifle that isn't accurate isn't of any use to me.

A coyote at 100 yards would still be killed.

 

[Shawnee_b]

I have read many reviews of the Mini-14 and you are the first to say it wont shoot

did you return to the dealer?

No he is far from the first, he's spot on. Notoriously inaccurate, but reliable. The people think a Mini14 is accurate couldn't hit a pie plate with the rifle in a vise at 10 feet anyway.

There was an accuracy fix for them. Problem was the trunion at the front of the stock. The fix was not easy, not cheap.

 

[Mac-7]

I have read many reviews of the Mini-14 and you are the first to say it wont shoot

did you return to the dealer?

No he is far from the first, he's spot on. Notoriously inaccurate, but reliable. The people think a Mini14 is accurate couldn't hit a pie plate with the rifle in a vise at 10 feet anyway.

There was an accuracy fix for them. Problem was the trunion at the front of the stock. The fix was not easy, not cheap.

I dont own a Mini-14 so I wont argue with you about that

 

[Shawnee_b]

Glad you got a Ruger. Hipoint being junk is an understatement. As a dealer gunsmith I never handled them, wouldn't stock them. "Oh but it's lifetime garuntee" Uhhuh, what does they do for you when you need it and the pot metal worse than China steel breaks

 

[Shawnee_b]

I dont own a Mini-14 so I wont argue with you about that

They got their niche but much better out there, by far.

 

[Canon Shooter]

We used to go out to the desert for a "wake & bake fire fest".

Go out to the desert, smoke a joint, and then start shooting all the shit we'd brought with us that was thrown in the back of the truck.

My buddy had a scoped Mini-14 and was trying to hit a gallon size glass bottle from about 100 yards. We were watching him, and watching all the little puffs of dust and dirt that flew up as the bullets hit all around it.

I walked over to where he was in the prone position, stood over him, and aimed a non-scoped Mini-14 at the bottle and pulled the trigger.

"One shot, one kill".

It was the single luckiest shot of my entire fuckin' life, but I didn't let him know that. He was fuckin' pissed...

 

[Tumblin Tumbleweed]

Glad you got a Ruger. Hipoint being junk is an understatement. As a dealer gunsmith I never handled them, wouldn't stock them. "Oh but it's lifetime garuntee" Uhhuh, what does they do for you when you need it and the pot metal worse than China steel breaks

I only liked it due to it being a heavy piece and it having a larger grip (I have big hands). Everything else about it pretty much sucked.

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

I thought this might make an interesting thread. If you have owned many guns, there are bound to be times you were disappointed in a particular gun.

My biggest disappointment was in a Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle I bought in 2006. My idea was to use it as a coyote rifle. It was a lot cheaper than other .223 Remington semi-auto rifles. And I am a big fan of Ruger firearms in general. But the Mini-14 I got was a disaster as far as accuracy was concerned. I mounted an older Redfield scope I had from when I replaced the optics on a deer rifle. The scope rings provided by Ruger seemed secure and fit like a glove. So off I went to the range with 3 different brands of ammo.

The gun would not sight in worth a damn. I assumed it was the scope or scope mounting, or my inability to hit at 100 yards. I went home and bore sighted the gun again. Then I took a small gun vise I had with me to the gun range. I clamped the rifle into the vise, and put a 6'x8' piece of cardboard up at 100 yards. I figured that way I could see exactly where it was hitting and adjust the scope accordingly. My first 5 shot group had a spread on 9 inches. 9 inches! WTF? I put an additional sandbag on the clamp and got the same thing.

I tried a few more times but never got it anywhere near decent accuracy. The rifle was fun to shoot, and I never had any feeding issues. But a rifle that isn't accurate isn't of any use to me.

A coyote at 100 yards would still be killed.

I'd say you might have a 50/50 chance of hitting a coyote with a 9 inch spread.
Of course you'd probably just wing it and it would crawl off into the woods and die.
Not very humane.

 

[WinterBorn]

I thought this might make an interesting thread. If you have owned many guns, there are bound to be times you were disappointed in a particular gun.

My biggest disappointment was in a Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle I bought in 2006. My idea was to use it as a coyote rifle. It was a lot cheaper than other .223 Remington semi-auto rifles. And I am a big fan of Ruger firearms in general. But the Mini-14 I got was a disaster as far as accuracy was concerned. I mounted an older Redfield scope I had from when I replaced the optics on a deer rifle. The scope rings provided by Ruger seemed secure and fit like a glove. So off I went to the range with 3 different brands of ammo.

The gun would not sight in worth a damn. I assumed it was the scope or scope mounting, or my inability to hit at 100 yards. I went home and bore sighted the gun again. Then I took a small gun vise I had with me to the gun range. I clamped the rifle into the vise, and put a 6'x8' piece of cardboard up at 100 yards. I figured that way I could see exactly where it was hitting and adjust the scope accordingly. My first 5 shot group had a spread on 9 inches. 9 inches! WTF? I put an additional sandbag on the clamp and got the same thing.

I tried a few more times but never got it anywhere near decent accuracy. The rifle was fun to shoot, and I never had any feeding issues. But a rifle that isn't accurate isn't of any use to me.

A coyote at 100 yards would still be killed.

A 9 inch spread for 5 rounds means one or two shots might kill a coyote. I expect much better accuracy, especially from a .223 or 5.56mm. My next attempt to build a coyote rifle was with a Bushmaster AR. It had a 24" bbl. I could put 3 shots on target at 100 yards. I shot numerous 1 inch groups, and few that were less than that.

 

[okfine]

I thought this might make an interesting thread. If you have owned many guns, there are bound to be times you were disappointed in a particular gun.

My biggest disappointment was in a Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle I bought in 2006. My idea was to use it as a coyote rifle. It was a lot cheaper than other .223 Remington semi-auto rifles. And I am a big fan of Ruger firearms in general. But the Mini-14 I got was a disaster as far as accuracy was concerned. I mounted an older Redfield scope I had from when I replaced the optics on a deer rifle. The scope rings provided by Ruger seemed secure and fit like a glove. So off I went to the range with 3 different brands of ammo.

The gun would not sight in worth a damn. I assumed it was the scope or scope mounting, or my inability to hit at 100 yards. I went home and bore sighted the gun again. Then I took a small gun vise I had with me to the gun range. I clamped the rifle into the vise, and put a 6'x8' piece of cardboard up at 100 yards. I figured that way I could see exactly where it was hitting and adjust the scope accordingly. My first 5 shot group had a spread on 9 inches. 9 inches! WTF? I put an additional sandbag on the clamp and got the same thing.

I tried a few more times but never got it anywhere near decent accuracy. The rifle was fun to shoot, and I never had any feeding issues. But a rifle that isn't accurate isn't of any use to me.

A coyote at 100 yards would still be killed.

I'd say you might have a 50/50 chance of hitting a coyote with a 9 inch spread.
Of course you'd probably just wing it and it would crawl off into the woods and die.
Not very humane.

I wouldn't have used a Mini 14 in the 1st place. Win Model 94 would be my choice.